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When in Malawi …
Lilongwe is only about 300 km farther from JHB than
Cape Town (not that straight lines mean anything in
the context of African roads, so it’s not an
unreasonable holiday destination. Loads of places
for diving, mountain biking, hiking etc.
Overlanding Camping Accommodation Malawi:
· Chitimba beach
campsite (S10°35’05.6” E34°10’32.0”) – This is
probably the northernmost campsite in Malawi, 150 km
from the Tanzanian border. With most of the road
still under construction and a long haul to the
first decent campsite near Iringa, Tanzania, it’s
best to leave here early if you’re heading north.
Another reason to leave early is that the ablutions
are gungy and the campsite generally untidy,
although, in their defence, there was a lot of
construction and renovation going on. K135 pppn.
· Chitinji campsite,
Zomba plateau (S15°20’28.1” E35°16’48.1”) – Not to
be confused with the Le Meridien Hotel’s campsite
further down the hill. The last 6 km of the road are
horribly eroded and might erode the nether parts of
ordinary cars. The campsite is really nice, in a
forest with plenty of walks (or MTB trails) in the
area. K200.- pppn. Bring your own beer.
· Doogle’s
backpackers lodge, Blantyre (S15°47’01.6”
E35°00’54.3”) – This appears to be the only place in
or around Blantyre. It’s a backpacker’s lodge so you
get to sleep in one of three 10-bunk dorms but
camping is allowed on the lawn, just that there’s no
space for rooftop tents (unless you can winch
yourself through the pool without being noticed) so
we slept in the car park. Internet access is the
cheapest we found anywhere and the food is superb
and cheap. K 185 pppn.
· Kazela forest lodge
near Dedza (S14°19’12.4” E34°15’47.8”) turnoff at
(S14°21’01.0” E34°14’12.7”)– In the forests of the
Dedza mountains, out of the way of the main tourist
stream. K150.- pppn and the beers are close to
wholesale price in the pub.
· Lilongwe golf
course (S13°59’42.2” E27°13’57.7”) – this sounds
weird, but obviously golf is not a big thing in this
town so alternative income is required. It appears
to be the only campsite in or around town and is
most welcome if you get in after dark. Not the place
to spend a holiday though. $5.- pppn.
· Ngala beach
(S12°21’26.5” E34°19’57.2”) – Another campsite under
renovation but the adjacent lodge is nice and has a
real pizza oven and a good fridge. Right on the
beach with a beach bar, but there are plenty of
insects and you camp under some trees that drop
poisonous fruit on your tent all night. $2.50 pppn.
· Nkhwasi beach,
Nkhata Bay (S11°53’38.8” E34°10’01.8”) – One of the
nicest beaches along the lake with rocks and trees.
$3.- pppn
· Steps campsite,
Senga Bay (S13°42’58.7” E34°37’41.8”) – one of the
nicer & more secluded campsites about 130 km from
Lilongwe (i.e. nearest beach campsite). At K300.-
pppn it’s one of the more expensive in Malawi. Some
sheister has put up a sign for a steps campsite
about 10 km down the road, no doubt to divert
traffic towards himself, so make sure you go all the
way to the Livingstonia Hotel (who run the
campsite).
· The Kgotla, Monkey
Bay (S14°01’53.0” E34°49’50.3”) – This is brand new.
It’s on the beach and quite small but it has some of
the best food in Monkey Bay. K100.- pppn. Most other
places along the same beach looked a bit tattered –
perhaps better viewed through a haze of dope smoke.
Malawi
National Parks
Unfortunately
Malawi’s parks suffer from the same problem that
some of Zambia’s parks have: unfenced, locals live
in or around the parks, move freely through them and
help themselves to what game is left – not a viable
wildlife park management model. While the locals
enter freely, foreigners pay in dollars. The whole
situation appears to be a bit out of control with
Malawi’s high population density and subsistence
farming/poaching even the bird life is disappointing
(apart from Africa’s largest fish eagle population
at the lakeshore).
So we skipped most of
the parks and visited only Nyika NP, Lake Malawi NP
and the Mulanje Massif, which does not currently
have any protected status.
· Nyika Plateau – this is a very non-African type of
park at an altitude of over 2000 m (highest point
about 2430 m). Mainly grassland and fynbos (as well
as some pine, eucalyptus and wattle forests that
some previous-century colonial twit thought to be a
good idea). Plenty of antelope, notably eland, roan
and bushbuck, as well as zebra. Probably the least
poached park because it’s quite difficult to get to.
Entrance $ 5.- pppd, $2.- pvpd, camping $ 5.- pppn.
All other activities such as horse riding, guided
hikes etc. are astronomically expensive. Luckily one
can go on unguided walks, although the icy wind
might blow you right back into your tent. This place
gets plenty rain and it’s cold when it’s overcast.
Spectacular views.
· Monkey Bay NP – is
essentially an underwater protected area because of
the vast fresh water fish diversity. You need to be
a diver or snorkler to see this one. Even if you
stay on the surface they will find a way of
extracting $5.- entry fees from you.
· Liwonde NP – this
is supposed to be the best-run park but we met two
couples that went in for the day and then continued
to the next place on the itinerary instead of
staying overnight.
· Mulanje Massif –
this is a massive outcrop of granite at the southern
end of Malawi, bordering onto Mozambique. There is
an area of forestry activity, but most of the massif
is too steep/high for anything but hiking and
climbing. There are several overnight huts that
provide only a roof and firewood and rats and the
area has some pretty tough hikes, as well as climbs
to several peaks. Most peaks are accessible without
ropes or climbing experience, but it does require an
impaired sense of self-preservation and significant
skin offerings to the local spirits. The peaks are
actually quite dangerous if you’re unfit (e.g. the
3000 m Sapitwa peak is a 6 am to 6 pm slog from the
nearest overnight hut) or suffer from vertigo, and
the guides do not carry so much as a first aid kit.
There are spectacular views when the clouds are not
about. On a clear day one can, so they say, see the
Indian Ocean from Sapitwa peak. Plenty of cliffs if
you’re into the hardcore climbing, but I’m not sure
where you’d get permission for that and you’ll need
a block-and-tackle to take the guide along. Huts
cost K100.- pppn, guides (minimum 1 per group) get
K500.- pppd and porters (optional but recommended at
least for the first day) get the same. Camping is
allowed at the forestry station at the base of the
massif (S15°56’18.7” E35°29’59.2”) turnoff from the
M2 at (S16°00’47.3” E35°29’32.3”).
· Vwaza marsh game
reserve – we avoided this because it is saturated
with tsetse flies at this time of year. |
